This past May, Josh and I got some surprising news…

I’m pregnant! We’re expecting a little girl in January 2017. So, needless to say, life is about to change in some major, major ways. I can’t say that we feel prepared at all, but we’re equal parts excited and terrified. I’ll be 41 years old by the time baby girl comes along, so that’s definitely scary. But my doctor keeps assuring me that it’s not at all unusual for women to have babies at this age, and he even has a few patients in their late 40s/early 50s.

I’ve never felt more my age thanks to the pregnancy symptoms. The first trimester was horrible, with all-day morning sickness until about week 16 and lots of fatigue. The second trimester has been much better, although now I’m dealing with backaches, aching feet, swelling and, of course, fatigue. I also feel like I’m huge already. That part is really playing on my self-esteem; having lost 50 pounds over the last few years, it’s difficult to look in the mirror or get on the scale now. But I just keep telling myself that I’m still fitting into the same size as I was before, just in the maternity version instead. And I’m on track to gain the appropriate amount of weight, so I’m trying to not be so hard on myself.

In other news, we got a puppy earlier this year, a Boston Terrier named Jack. He’s been to a three-week in-kennel training program, so he knows all of the major commands. Josh practices with Jack every day, and he listens really well. He’s still not 100% house trained yet, which is frustrating, but he’s getting there. Hopefully, he’ll be fully house trained before baby girl comes along. The next thing we need to figure out is how to prepare him for the baby. It’s going to be a drastic change not only for us, but also for Jack.